Kuratle: No. 6 Porsche “Opened Up Window” in Title Battle

Porsche LMDh factory director Urs Kuratle believes Laurens Vanthoor and Kevin Estre have “opened up the window” in the battle for the FIA World Endurance Championship Hypercar title by finishing third in the 6 Hours of Fuji, a race in which the rival No. 51 Ferrari 499P failed to score points.

Vanthoor brought the No. 6 Penske Porsche 963 across the line in the final podium spot after a long and ultimately successful battle with the No. 93 Peugeot 9X8 of Mikkel Jensen during Sunday’s penultimate round of the WEC season.

The Fuji podium follows just a few weeks after the No. 6 crew took victory in the rain-hit Lone Star Le Mans round at Circuit of The Americas amidst a strong run of momentum for the defending drivers’ champions.

The two cars ahead of Vanthoor and Estre in the standings, the No. 51 and No. 83 Ferraris, endured a tough race in Japan, finishing tenth and 15th respectively.

As a result, the gap between the No. 6 Porsche and the leading Ferrari trio of Antonio Giovinazzi, James Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi has shrunk to 21 points with a total of 39 points still up for grabs in Bahrain.

Speaking after the race, Kuratle struck an upbeat tone about the result, noting that the better championship odds will lift the team’s spirit heading into the deciding round.

“We just opened the window for the No. 6 car,” he said. “It’s good for the team, good for the motivation. Sure, we go to Bahrain with a proper bag of motivation.”

Despite the improved odds, Vanthoor was under no illusions about the task he and Estre face as they seek to defend their championship at the Bahrain International Circuit.

The Belgian also noted that he will enter the title-deciding round with a scenario that is the exact opposite from last year, when the No. 6 crew as the championship leaders and thus knows the kind of pressure Giovinazzi, Calado and Pier Guidi have to deal with.

“It’s going to be tough,” Vanthoor said. “That’s not a secret. Ferrari is always pretty good in Bahrain. They have to kind of make mistakes and we have to do a good race.

“But they’ve been doing that the last two races. They’ve been making quite a few mistakes. I know how it is to be in that position. It’s nerve-wracking.

“We’re in a position where we’re completely relaxed because we have nothing to lose. So let’s see.”

Giovinazzi, who identified Estre and Vanthoor as a serious threat in the title fight at the start of the Fuji weekend, said Ferrari needed to stay motivated for Bahrain as they still have a points advantage in hand over the chasing crews.

“In the last few years Porsche have been always really fast here [in Fuji], especially car No. 6,” Giovinazzi told Sportscar365.

“In the end we lost points to them, but we are still leading the championship and we need to be still motivated and to not give up because we still have eight hours to go.

“On the other hand, I think Bahrain is a good track for us. Let’s see.

“If we can have some more straight line speed it will be good, because today it was so difficult to overtake anyone.

“It was so easy to get overtaken, but I hope Bahrain can be different.”

The No. 51 Ferrari was condemned to a pointless finish in Fuji thanks in large part to a pair of penalties for track limit infringements.

When asked whether a points finish would have been possible with a clean run, Giovinazzi replied: “I think so.”

“We could have finished where we started, to be honest. Sixth, seventh,” he added.

“That was good for the championship, but in the end, we need to be positive. I think our main contender, No. 6, scored a lot of points, No. 83 scored only one point.

“We are still 14 points in front of No. 83 and 21 in front of No. 6. So I think we still have a good chance.

“We need to… not give up. I think we have a good potential and I’ll try to be in front also after Bahrain.”